Ohio solar-storage project will be nation's largest, developer claims

Dive Brief:

Half Moon Ventures (HMV) has tapped S&C Electric to develop 7 MW energy storage facility to be located in Minister, Ohio. When paired with solar, the company expects the facility to be one of the largest of its kind.
The project is being constructed in conjunction with the local municipal utility, the Village of Minster, and once complete will allow Half Moon to sell energy into PJM’s frequency regulation market.
The system will also be tied to HMV’s adjacent 4.2-MW solar plant, allowing the village to further reduce peak demand charges in the middle of the day.

Dive Insight:

Is the largest solar+storage facility being developed in Ohio? That's what S&C is claiming.

Developed to help the Village of Minister manage its demand, HMV will use S&C’s 7 MW PureWave SMS Storage Management System, designed to integrate storage management and power conversion for 3 MWh of lithium ion-batteries. S&C said the system will help Minster better manage energy demand during peak periods and provide reliable back up power. And though no targeted date was set, the company said that once completed the solar+storage system "will be the largest U.S. facility of its kind connected through a municipal utility."

The storage system will be tied to Half Moon's 4.2 MW solar facility.

“With the new system, we are able to improve reliability and capacity while leveraging renewable energy sources without costly investments into grid expansion,” Half Moon CEO Michael Hastings said in a statement. “S&C helped us prove that multiple revenue streams in energy storage deployments can help solve our customer’s financial and operational needs.”

The storage will allow Half Moon to sell energy into PJM’s frequency regulation market, while the Village of Minster will use the energy storage system to defer transmission costs, improve power quality and shave peak demand.

“Revenue stacking is one of the quickest ways to create a strong return on investment for energy storage systems,” said Troy Miller, director of grid solutions for S&C. "In the case of the Minster project, we are seeing one of the first examples of how a municipal utility can work with a developer to create multiple revenue streams that benefit both parties, and we expect to see more projects like this in the future.”